Franz Ferdinand I was crowned first Emperor of Austria, and then King of Hungary, in December 1916. His accession to the imperial throne was regarded with apprehension in Hungary. "The three cornerstones of Ferdinand's political conviction were clericalism, anti-democratic views, and anti-Hungarianism....... He advocated granting greater autonomy to ethnic groups within the Empire, and addressing their grievances, especially the Czechs in Bohemia and the South Slavic peoples in Croatia and Bosnia, who had been left out of the Austro-Hungarian compromise of 1867. Yet his feelings towards the Hungarians were less generous, often described as antipathy.......Ferdinand was a prominent and influential supporter of the Austro-Hungarian navy". (1) He proposed making Austria-Hungary a federal nation. (2)
(1) Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria.
(2) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Greater_Austria.
(1) Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria.
(2) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_Greater_Austria.